Our Spain Travelogue (Part III)
Assalamualaikum a dobry den!
Finally! I've got the chance to type these. ^_^
***
Did you guys remember that I've said that I'm going to talk about makcik Aisyah in the next spain post? Who is Makcik Aisyah? Why I'm so eager to write about her?
So, here we go!
As we first arrived at the Granada Estacion Autobus (Granada Bus Station), after a lonnnngggg 5 hours of bus trip from Madrid, we were a bit hazy in finding the tickets for the public transport. Later we knew that we have to buy the tickets from the bus driver. With all 17 of us each carrying a checked-in size bag, we were trying to understand the Spanish-written tickets information at the bus stop. In the middle of the chaos, suddenly an old women (I guess she's in late 40's or early 50's) wearing a hijab came to the same bus stop. Knowing that of course she's a muslim, we were so excited to meet her and have our little greetings to each other.
As I've mentioned, her name is Aisyah. We don't know the full name of course. (well, you don't really tell a stranger that you've met your full name right?) She is a lecturer coming to Granada to teach Arabic. But she lives in Malaga. She don't really speak English but she tried to understand us and vice versa. It was really nice to meet another muslim women in a place where the muslims are the minority.
Then, the bus came. As we've searched before, we knew there is a special card that can cover for several trips. So, we tried to tell the bus driver that we want to buy Bono (the special card). BUT, maybe because there were 17 of us, and it was a very sunny afternoon (this is the time which you should avoid to evoke any kind of tension as people tend to get annoyed easier), so there was some drama with the bus driver. Knowing so little Spanish and the only Spanish we learnt was from the abundant of Telenovelas we've watched in the earlier days, we were at disadvantages.
Then, makcik Aisyah came to the rescue. She was on the same bus as us and she overheard our little problem so she helped us to talk with the driver. It was not completely resolved, but at least the tension is much less.
After that, we all ended up arriving at our stop and Makcik Aisyah stepped down from the bus one stop earlier than ours. We were so grateful that we've got to meet Makcik Aisyah and just bidded her goodbye as we thought that this is our final meeting together. Or so we thought.
Then, after we had settled in at our hostel, we walked towards Albaycin. (I have mentioned about the Albaycin tour at the the 1st part of this travelogue.) When we was walking uphill, suddenly, we met Makcik Aisyah again! She was on her way to somewhere, and when we mentioned that we want to go to the mosque, she offered to show us the way. But as I was leading everyone else in front, I didn't realized about the offer as I just thought it was just another coincidental meeting and they were having a short chit-chatting session. (Bad me! Astaghfirullah...T_T)
And so, we went to the mosque ..........(also in the 1st part).....then after the mosque visit, we just realized that we still didn't have a proper meal yet. So off we go looking for some halal food at the restaurants along the downhill of Albaycin.
So, we, having a very strong malay gene in our blood, will of course must try our best to look for rice. No matter where we go! We then found a restaurant which have an arabic-turkish-like atmosphere. One of us asked the cashier whether the food is halal or not. They said that only some of the menu is halal. So, we thought to give it a try.
We chose the basement section which looked so cosy. There were sections of area divided by some kind of partitions and we sat on the floor with lots of cushions around. We ordered some juices and tea and began our serious discussion on choosing the menu with the guidance of the waiter.
The order arrived first at our table and with the growling stomach, we quickly started to dig in. The other table had theirs very late so some of them whom were tired of waiting, decided to have a walk outside to survey some nice souvenirs.
and us, the table with the food, already had finished ours when they came back while their orders just arrived. But that was not the highlights. What I want to tell you guys is, they who just came back from their walk to the souvenirs shops, came back with makcik Aisyah! (Now, it's the 3rd time we met her! SubhanAllah)
When she came, she said that she was going to break her fast. But then, she had a long talk with a waiter, and then another waiter, and then she said that she was not so convinced with their status of halal. She didn't really said that those food were absolutely non-halal, but just it was strongly unconvincing enough for her.
Well, of course we felt very hesitated to continue our meal as it was a very strong syubhah for us. Our friends were lucky as their orders were late, they didn't yet have a bite. But us, almost already finished our plates. Feeling very guilty, we asked for the bill and go straight into a confirmed halal kebab shop. So, no rice for us in Granada. Oh well, as long as we can avoid the syubhah which is way much better as mentioned in Hadith No. 6 in the Hadith 40 of Imam An-Nawawi, insyaAllah we were fine. ^_^ Maybe Allah prevent us from eating the syubhah things...Wallahu'alam...
and oh! I forgot to tell you about this. As I've mentioned that Makcik Aisyah can only speak a little of English. She spoke mainly Spanish and Arabic. Lucky us, for we had Adi who knows Arabic much more than us. So we mainly communicated via Adi plus some gestures guessing. It was quite exciting actually for me. I guess, since we had the same faith, same belief, no matter whatever the boundaries were, we felt like we were already close to each other by heart.
and to conclude our "coincidenceS" with Makcik Aisyah, on the next day at the hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Al-Hambra with many different sites, once again out of hundreds, thousands of tourists and visitors, we met Makcik Aisyah at the exit of the Nazarias Palace!! SubhanaAllah...!!! This time, we really felt that maybe Allah wants to shows us something through this lovely lady. Maybe it's the ukhuwah that's built in a very short moment based on the love towards Allah had binded us all together. SubhanaAllah!
and during our last meeting, we took her email and she asked to send to her our pictures together. That was our last time together and we never saw each other again after that.
May Allah bless u always Makcik Aisyah, and may we meet again another time insyaAllah..!
Finally! I've got the chance to type these. ^_^
***
Did you guys remember that I've said that I'm going to talk about makcik Aisyah in the next spain post? Who is Makcik Aisyah? Why I'm so eager to write about her?
So, here we go!
As we first arrived at the Granada Estacion Autobus (Granada Bus Station), after a lonnnngggg 5 hours of bus trip from Madrid, we were a bit hazy in finding the tickets for the public transport. Later we knew that we have to buy the tickets from the bus driver. With all 17 of us each carrying a checked-in size bag, we were trying to understand the Spanish-written tickets information at the bus stop. In the middle of the chaos, suddenly an old women (I guess she's in late 40's or early 50's) wearing a hijab came to the same bus stop. Knowing that of course she's a muslim, we were so excited to meet her and have our little greetings to each other.
As I've mentioned, her name is Aisyah. We don't know the full name of course. (well, you don't really tell a stranger that you've met your full name right?) She is a lecturer coming to Granada to teach Arabic. But she lives in Malaga. She don't really speak English but she tried to understand us and vice versa. It was really nice to meet another muslim women in a place where the muslims are the minority.
Then, the bus came. As we've searched before, we knew there is a special card that can cover for several trips. So, we tried to tell the bus driver that we want to buy Bono (the special card). BUT, maybe because there were 17 of us, and it was a very sunny afternoon (this is the time which you should avoid to evoke any kind of tension as people tend to get annoyed easier), so there was some drama with the bus driver. Knowing so little Spanish and the only Spanish we learnt was from the abundant of Telenovelas we've watched in the earlier days, we were at disadvantages.
Then, makcik Aisyah came to the rescue. She was on the same bus as us and she overheard our little problem so she helped us to talk with the driver. It was not completely resolved, but at least the tension is much less.
After that, we all ended up arriving at our stop and Makcik Aisyah stepped down from the bus one stop earlier than ours. We were so grateful that we've got to meet Makcik Aisyah and just bidded her goodbye as we thought that this is our final meeting together. Or so we thought.
Then, after we had settled in at our hostel, we walked towards Albaycin. (I have mentioned about the Albaycin tour at the the 1st part of this travelogue.) When we was walking uphill, suddenly, we met Makcik Aisyah again! She was on her way to somewhere, and when we mentioned that we want to go to the mosque, she offered to show us the way. But as I was leading everyone else in front, I didn't realized about the offer as I just thought it was just another coincidental meeting and they were having a short chit-chatting session. (Bad me! Astaghfirullah...T_T)
And so, we went to the mosque ..........(also in the 1st part).....then after the mosque visit, we just realized that we still didn't have a proper meal yet. So off we go looking for some halal food at the restaurants along the downhill of Albaycin.
So, we, having a very strong malay gene in our blood, will of course must try our best to look for rice. No matter where we go! We then found a restaurant which have an arabic-turkish-like atmosphere. One of us asked the cashier whether the food is halal or not. They said that only some of the menu is halal. So, we thought to give it a try.
We chose the basement section which looked so cosy. There were sections of area divided by some kind of partitions and we sat on the floor with lots of cushions around. We ordered some juices and tea and began our serious discussion on choosing the menu with the guidance of the waiter.
The order arrived first at our table and with the growling stomach, we quickly started to dig in. The other table had theirs very late so some of them whom were tired of waiting, decided to have a walk outside to survey some nice souvenirs.
and us, the table with the food, already had finished ours when they came back while their orders just arrived. But that was not the highlights. What I want to tell you guys is, they who just came back from their walk to the souvenirs shops, came back with makcik Aisyah! (Now, it's the 3rd time we met her! SubhanAllah)
When she came, she said that she was going to break her fast. But then, she had a long talk with a waiter, and then another waiter, and then she said that she was not so convinced with their status of halal. She didn't really said that those food were absolutely non-halal, but just it was strongly unconvincing enough for her.
Well, of course we felt very hesitated to continue our meal as it was a very strong syubhah for us. Our friends were lucky as their orders were late, they didn't yet have a bite. But us, almost already finished our plates. Feeling very guilty, we asked for the bill and go straight into a confirmed halal kebab shop. So, no rice for us in Granada. Oh well, as long as we can avoid the syubhah which is way much better as mentioned in Hadith No. 6 in the Hadith 40 of Imam An-Nawawi, insyaAllah we were fine. ^_^ Maybe Allah prevent us from eating the syubhah things...Wallahu'alam...
and oh! I forgot to tell you about this. As I've mentioned that Makcik Aisyah can only speak a little of English. She spoke mainly Spanish and Arabic. Lucky us, for we had Adi who knows Arabic much more than us. So we mainly communicated via Adi plus some gestures guessing. It was quite exciting actually for me. I guess, since we had the same faith, same belief, no matter whatever the boundaries were, we felt like we were already close to each other by heart.
and to conclude our "coincidenceS" with Makcik Aisyah, on the next day at the hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Al-Hambra with many different sites, once again out of hundreds, thousands of tourists and visitors, we met Makcik Aisyah at the exit of the Nazarias Palace!! SubhanaAllah...!!! This time, we really felt that maybe Allah wants to shows us something through this lovely lady. Maybe it's the ukhuwah that's built in a very short moment based on the love towards Allah had binded us all together. SubhanaAllah!
and during our last meeting, we took her email and she asked to send to her our pictures together. That was our last time together and we never saw each other again after that.
May Allah bless u always Makcik Aisyah, and may we meet again another time insyaAllah..!
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